A new tool for citizen journalists is coming: StoryMaker [1] is a mobile app to enable existing and aspiring journalists around the world to develop their digital storytelling skills. Global Voices is helping to make the app happen, along with Free Press Unlimited [2], The International Center for Journalism (ICFJ) [3] and the Guardian Project [4]/Small World News [5]. The StoryMaker project will include trainings, live on-site demos, and a comprehensive mentoring program.
The StoryMaker app will facilitate the production and publication of professional-grade news video, photos, and audio content via Android phones, as safely and securely as possible. For now, the project focuses on four target countries – Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, and Iraq – and plans to expand soon.
Several training-of-trainers sessions were held in these target countries in late 2012, helping to develop local skills with the goal of training other journalists.
The app includes training lessons that young professional or citizen media journalists can download directly to their smart phones. It also includes templates to help structure video, audio and photostories, as well as functional tools to create a story with a series of photos. In the video and photo mode, overlays on the screen help the photographer to find just the right shot.
The first trainings with the app will take place in all target countries in 2013, and as content is produced, it will be published on a specialized website.
Still under development, the app will launch this year on the Google PlayStore and will be available through direct download on the Guardian Project’s website. This project will allow the Global Voices community to combine resources with other organizations, empowering citizen journalists and journalists to make their voices heard online.